Day Light and Darkness
by Erethas
Summary: A new family of lions are welcomed to Pride Rock to live a happy peaceful life. How wrong. Following their arrival a series of external with old enemies, and internal with one ambitious pride member, conflicts are laid out, and the whole pride is involved
1. Prologue Survival of the Fittest

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE LIONKING. ALL CHARACTERS IN THIS FANFIC BELONG TO DISNEY - EXCEPT FOR NADHA, KIJANI, KANURU, CORUS, AND OTHER CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNISE FROM THE MOVIES.**

**Any reviews and constructive criticism, except for flames, are appreciated.  
**

The old zebra stallion whickered, standing in its own shady spot by the sluggish river. There was some nice lush grass there, protected from the scathing heat of the sun, and he had it all to himself. A few dozen yards away was a group of sporting zebra foals, whinnying and kicking up clods of dirt as they whirled around in dizzy circles.

He snorted at their antics. Let them impress each other, _he_ had found the perfect grazing spot. Quite promptly, after a quick look around, he lowered his striped head and started to graze with out a care in the world except for the wonderful taste of green grass on his tongue. Now and then he whickered happily to himself, oblivious to the world around him.

Kajani grinned from her hiding spot in the tall grasses. He was remarkably stupid (or just overwhelmed with delight). The zebra was well away from the herd in an isolated area, and he hadn't even bothered to properly look in her direction. So remarkably _stupid!_ It was her lucky day today.

Resisting the strong urge to flick her tail happily this way and that, she forced herself to remain still, one paw poised above the ground. The trick was, when hunting by oneself, was to try and creep up on an unsuspected animal, from downwind, as close as possible, to be followed by a quick dash and a leap. The young lioness was no novice.

Slowly, slowly she put her paw down. Slowly, slowly, she raised another, slowly moving forward. Lower. Raise. Lower. Pause. Raise. Pause. Lower. Raise. Pause. Lower and there she was with a good view of striped behind only a few yards away. She lowered herself to the ground like a coiled spring, quivering with anticipation. Her eyes gleaming, her muscles tensed, the lioness shifting slightly. A second later her hind legs pushed against the ground and she was soaring through the air, her mouth wide open with a roar and her claws unsheathed, aimed directly for the zebra. She was exhilarated, hearing nothing but her own roar, strong and loud as if the ancestors were roaring with her. The zebra was now almost directly beneath her and her great paws were – WHOCK!


	2. First Impressions

** Thank you Lavender Paw, someHuddy, Hikari, Narfy and BellaVision for your kind reviews and your patience regarding the several years of waiting. This Chapter been lying in wait since a little after the conception of this story. As most of my stories from way back when are lost due to the previous computer's temper, it is my fortune that I had a printed a copy. Largely I have forgotten the details of the plot, so the story may take a while. Please bear with me, I am not the most consistent nor confident of of writers, but it is very encouraging to have s community of writers such as to draw from. **

The lioness squinted at the approaching figures moving through the grasses and it was very obvious as to where they were heading. Standing next to her was a pair of young cubs, a female and a male.

"Nadha," piped up the female cub, her eyes questioning. "What are you looking at?" The lioness grunted, not moving her head.

"Company." She crouched slightly and muttered, "Lions, in fact." More than four, she thought, feeling more than a little restless. "Now, hush Corus – and you too Kanararu," she said, spotting the look on the male cub's face. "We can get some food later, I am trying to concentrate." Standing rigidly she stared into the distance, oblivious of the hot sun beating down on their dusty backs. After a moment she bent until her face was a the same level as theirs.

"Now," she said, her voice stern. "Both of you are to stay beside me when they come; we don't know the lay of the land, nor how they behave here."

"What's that got to do with anything," asked Kanaru. Nadha sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"It is something called social principles and standards – something that you are too young to understand but will learn when you are older, but that's beside the point. I want both of you to be on your best behavior, understand? We don't want to go around upsetting any one like that time with that rhinocerous's calf."

"But we were only playing," said Corus indignantly. Nothing else, until she started to shout and chase us – that was scary, and she was crabby for no reason at all."

"You should not have gone anywhere near them," she just short of snapped at them, remembering how she very nearly had a heart attack and how very nearly the mother had succeeded in trampling them. Even the next day the fear and memory set them at an edge. Well, at least her anyway. Within a week the cubs had completely regained their confidence and were up to their old tricks. They thought everything was a game. "Rhinocerouses are dangerous," she admonished them. "Including adults. Even you know better than to raise their ire." The cubs were silent, and expressions serious, but still remained a certain sparkle in their eyes.

Nadhe turned back to the lions and frowned slightly. By now the group was close enough that she could make out four females of varying ages and one older male. The leader of the Pride, thought Nadha. Except for the calm and patient expressions of the male and the oldest male, and lionesses wore looks of both interest and guarded wariness. They respectfully stopped at a polite distance, and formed a semi-circle. The lion, a finely groomed fellow, and his lioness companion stepped forward.

"Welcome," he said, his voice deep and fluid. "I am King Simba."

"And I am Queen Nala," said his companion. "Welcome to the Pridelands."

"May we know what are your names and why are you in the Pridelands?" asked Simba. "You need not to be afraid of us; we consider it rather disrespectful to attack without reason unless the intrusion is on purpose and with ill intent." He words were not overly inquisitive and also gently reminded them who's territory this was. Even though his tone was kind, Nadha could not help feel a little edgy. Glancing over her shoulder and back again, she wished that that the fourth and final member of their group, a young lioness by the name of Kijania, was with them rather than on one of her scouting or hunting forays, and wondered when she would get back. Nadha did not do well in social situations involving strangers and tended to be somewhat standoffish. In her youth, like Kijani now, she hadn't liked talking a great deal and had preferred to be out hunting. However, being elderly, she could not go quite as far or long as she had been able to in her prime. Now, as an alternative, she spent most of her time with the cubs. Nadha's strength, senses and fleetness weren't as sharp as they once were; it was almost exclusively the younger lioness who did the major hunting and scouting., and this had increased lately for there were only two adults and Nadha would stay behind, teaching the cubs about the ways of the earth and the animals, and show them things such as how to hunt the smaller rodents, or which creatures one could most readily trust. And the stories – at the time they had left their pride she had been the youngest of the elders and therefore had an extensive amount of stories, Lore and other tidbits that had been passed down throughout the generations. But stories weren't going to help her here, and Kijani was absent, leaving her to converse with them on her own. Sociable, when with strangers, wasn't quite in her description. Nadhe met their eyes.

"My name is Nadhe." Nudging the two cubs forward she said, "this us Corus . . . and this is Kanaru, my youngest grandchildren. I have an older granddaughter who I am expecting to be here soon." There was a brief and thoughtful pause, and then she continued, "I did not realize we were encroaching on your territory and we are traveling. We would have avoided the boundaries if we had known." She felt more than saw Nala smile, her eyes a'twinkle. Great, she thought frostily, she amused them, she a mere lowly lioness. Corus stared at the strange lions with great curiosity while Kanuru, taking refuge underneath Nadhe, timidly peeked around her right foreleg. Simba, his eyebrow slightly raised, cast a glance towards the cubs who were lost in their own curiosity.

"Alone, and without a pride?" he said, a touch of concern coloring his voice. Nadhe solemnly nodded.

"For the most part, yes," she said. "It has been trying but we are managing well enough." Simba exchanged a glance with his mate, as if affirming something

"Perhaps we can remedy that," said Nala. "You are more than welcome to stop here for the time being. Of course, even rogue lions need a break now and then." The newcomer's eyes blinked once, a sign of surprise from the generous offer after expecting that her small family would be run off.

"I do not wish to impose myself and my family as an extra burden on your hospitality or detain you from your business," she said, "though I appreciate your offer. If we are taking up your time for other things, we shall leave in the early morning."

"Leave?" exclaimed Nala, partially in disbelief. "Of course you're not detaining us from our business. You are perfectly welcome to stay; in fact we only came out here to meet you. You must have traveled far to get to the Pridelands and must surely be in need for a rest, and by rest I mean a real decent one."

Well, Nadhe thought, somewhat stunned at the sudden change in their fortunes of partly unnerved by the pair's straightforward kindheartedness. Come to think of it she and the others were not in good shape. Lately hunting had been rather poor and they all, especially the cubs, were rather footsore, besides their scruffy and shabby appearance. She had not consciously noticed but it became blatanly obvious when Corus, as usual, left her side to sniff noses with a young lioness accompanying the two leaders. Kanaru hadn't moved; it was easy to tell he was trying hard not to fall asleep by the way his head kept sinking onto his chest only to jerk upright, eyes blinking rapidly. Feeling her resolve weaken, Nala gave in.

"Well, I suppose so, for a while," she said. "At the very least these two need a respite; I had forgotten how much harder it is to be a cub." Simba beamed, pleased with her decision.

"Good, that settles it," he said, confidently. "We ought to have a fair amount of food back home; the hunting party should have returned by now . . . Come to think of it, since we have all been introduced, let's head back to Pride Rock and get some dinner." At this, Kanaur lost all traces of his sleepiness and sat up straight, ears perked. Nala, ignoring Simba's last statement, paused, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"You mentioned you have another granddaughter, am I right?" Nala half asked, half stated. "We can set a watch for her here, if you want to go on."

"I don't think there is any need to," said Nadhe uncertainly, wondering if Kijana would be all right with this new development. "She should be able to track us without a problem, and we can always explain things to her later. I would hate to think, once again, that we are delaying you in some way."

"Not at all," reassured Nala, in her good-natured way. "You can put your worries to rest – it is nothing. As of late, we haven't had much to do around here except patrolling and hunting, not that there are only a few herbivores around, and there have been no conflicts in the area for a good while now. I implore you to take as much as you need and then some. That reminds me, Simba, unless we want to get complaints from the grass-eaters, we ought to tone down the number of hunts."

"From the herbivores?" Simba said. "I understand, but the pride will in turn complain from the lack of activity." His mate snorted vehemently.

"Then have them do practice runs, not actual hunts, and extended patrols. Surely even Corabi can not object to that. Plus our young lions could always do with some more training; that way no one will get the short end of the stick." She turned to Nadhe, smiling brightly. "Now then, I do not see anything that is keeping us here so let's head out and get a head start against these laggards." With that, Nala broke out into a slow but even jog. Nadhe turned to call the cubs only to see that they were involved in a game of tag with the young lioness from before, who, catching her eye, gave her an ear to ear grin.

"Don't worry, I've got my eye on 'em," she said, almost cheekily. Launching into a bouncing caper, she called, "Come along, let's see if you can keep up with me." The two cubs scampered after her and the trio ran past Nadhe, who trotted up to catch up with Nala and the main party, a slightly quizzical and amused expression on her face.


End file.
